The vast majority of world trade moves in cargo containers, much of it carried on oceangoing container ships. Nearly half of all incoming trade to the United States by value arrives by ship, and most of that is in cargo containers. Such cargo containers are easily filled at the shipping point and loaded on and off ships during shipment. Unfortunately, these cargo containers are easily susceptible to terrorist threats and the possibility of the shipment of nuclear, chemical, or biological contraband as well as the possibility of the act detonating a device of this kind—in the container itself during loading, shipment, or unloading. Any such occurrence has the potential of yielding drastic consequences.
The consequences would be devastating were terrorists to succeed in concealing a weapon of mass destruction, even a crude nuclear device, among the tens of thousands of cargo containers that enter U.S. ports every day. The physical devastation and mass murder that would be caused by such an attack is horrible to contemplate and the impact on the U.S. and global economy would be severe. Much of world trade would simply grind to a halt, as well as the trade and shipments leaving and entering the unlucky port where such a device is detonated.
Considering that just ten of the world's largest seaports are responsible for nearly half of all the World's seagoing containers bound for the United States (49%) it is highly desirable to inspect and check the containers as they are loaded and unloaded from large ships. These “mega-ports” include Hong Kong, Singapore, and Rotterdam and when one considers the sheer volume of containers passing through these ports to the U.S. and the world, it would be highly desirable and effective to precisely inspect and track containers being so transported.